5 Minute White Chocolate Fudge (3+ ways)

Want to know a dirty little secret? I’m not a huge fudge lover. You’d think I would be, since I love sugar and chocolate and all the things IN fudge…but it’s not something I’d reach for if given a choice. (Although I’ve been known to spend $50 on gourmet triple layer fudge at specialty shops on vacation…ahem.) However, several people I know LOVE fudge, and it seems the internet does too, so I make it quite often this time of year.

There are so many recipes for fudge out there: cooked or not cooked, microwaved, marshmallow fluff, sweetened condensed milk, frosting, chocolate chips, candy thermometers…the options for recipes go on and on. And while I’ll admit that those complicated cooked recipes that require a candy thermometer and the hand of God taste amazing, they NEVER work out for me. Last year I tried making peanut butter fudge from a reputable recipe three times and it failed every time. I know it was user error; I had to be doing something wrong because the recipe was fine, from a good source. Cooked fudge and me just don’t mix.

Does anyone else have that problem? Yes? Good, then THIS fudge recipe is for you: it’s EASY fudge, with just 4 main ingredients. It can be made on the stove or in the microwave. Alone it tastes good but if you add a few other simple ingredients you can easily transform it into a brand new recipe. Make it peanut butter or full of candy, make it mint or coconut or full of cookies. The sky is the limit once you have this fudge recipe!

The basic recipe consists of white chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk (SCM), vanilla, and a pinch of salt. It’s the basic recipe from the back of the SCM can. I’ve made this on the stove and in the microwave and I gotta say, I like the microwave method better. It’s faster and somehow easier.

You just add your white chocolate and SCM to a large bowl and melt it for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it’s melted and thick. Then you add your extract and a pinch of salt and pour it into the pan. The hardest thing is letting it set before you eat it!

The easiest thing to add to transform this easy recipe is to add candy…or cookies. I like to add Oreos and chocolate chip cookies, but you can use any kind you like. Clean out that pantry and empty those last few cookies from the bottom of the box. You could add cereal or caramel corn, any kind of candy or toffee or nuts. The sky is the limit!

My favorite way to doctor this fudge is probably with peanut butter because, well, duh.

When you turn this fudge into peanut butter fudge, you add the peanut butter with the white chocolate and SCM before melting. When you’re stirring it all together it’s going to seem like it’s seizing up, but just put it in the pan and it’ll harden up just fine. You can leave it plain peanut butter or add chopped candy or nuts, or even drizzle melted chocolate on top.

And then there is the kind that Jordan loves: mint chip!

To make the mint chip fudge, I add peppermint extract in addition to the vanilla extract. Peppermint vs. mint extract is really a personal choice (I hate mint extract but I love peppermint). I added a few drops of green food coloring and then stirred in some mini chocolate chips. They melted in a little, creating a swirl effect, before I could get it into the pan. If you want to avoid the swirl, use regular chocolate chips and work very quickly.

Mint isn’t the only way you could doctor this fudge: make it lemon or coconut or any flavor using ANY flavor extract, then stir in some mix-in that matches, like toasted coconut.

One simple fudge recipe, infinite possibilities. Which will you make? (And yes, this SAME recipe works with chocolate chips!!)

Ingredients:

Directions:

Line a 9×9″ or 8×8″ pan with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

Place white chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in a large microwave safe bowl. Heat for 1 minute on high power; stir. Heat an additional 30 seconds, stirring after, and continuing until mixture is just melted together and smooth.

Stir in vanilla and salt, then spread in prepared pan. Chill to set (sometimes it’ll set on the counter, but it’ll take longer and depend on the how warm your house is).

Slice into 1″ squares. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.